Kevin Durand’s towering presence well suited for new season of ‘Vikings’

TORONTO – With his strapping six-foot-six frame, Canadian actor Kevin Durand felt at home joining the cast of History’s hit series “Vikings.”

“We had always wondered in my family why I was such a giant,” said Durand. “I’m supposed to be French-Canadian but you don’t see too many French-Canadians with my features.

“When I went to Iceland, I looked like I was finally with my people. It was the strangest, most amazing thing.”

Durand plays a mysterious wanderer named Harbard in the show’s third season, which kicks off Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

He shows up in Kattegat at a time when ambitious warrior leader Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) is out raiding with his band of Norsemen.

“He’s kind of alluring, seductive in some ways, and some people are seduced by him and some people are just very skeptical about him,” said Durand, a Thunder Bay, Ont., native who played mercenary Martin Keamy on “Lost.”

“I can say that his actions, the reverberation of those actions, are felt for a while throughout.”

Meanwhile, Ragnar’s impulsive brother Rollo (Clive Standen) is struggling to better himself. His destiny and outlook change when he sees the Seer oracle.

“He does try and learn from his mistakes, and in season 3 you pick him up where he knows the fallout of what happened in season 2 with his brother,” said Standen.

“He knows that he’s in the wrong, he’s dealing with all that anger and frustration.”

Durand said he was a big fan of “Vikings” before joining season 3.

“It’s very strange to come into a show that you actually watch. My wife and I just wait every week for the next episode to come out, so then when you get to step into that world, it’s a real honour and kind of a trip.”

Standen said the cast was eager to see who would get the role of enigmatic Harbard and were “really excited” to see it go to Durand, a master of duplicitous characters. His other roles have included a bullying former boxer in the film “Real Steel” and a bank robber in “Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster.”

“It’s one of those roles where it’s a massive challenge, and it’s in good hands — these good, big hands,” said Standen, who grew up in England.

Durand is among many Canadians in the cast and crew.

All 10 episodes of season 3 were directed by Canadians (and 21 out of 29 episodes of “Vikings” in total have a Canuck director). Five of the lead cast in the new batch of episodes are from this country.

Nearly every character is based on a historical figure, including Rollo, who was the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror

Standen said such realism is part of the appeal of the series.

“I don’t think many people realized, maybe until the show came on, that probably something like 70 per cent of the world’s population have got some kind of Viking connection,” he said.

“The Queen of England is a direct descendant of my character in ‘Vikings.’ Who would have thought?”